Sunnyvale City Council to consider adding parking regulations near Levi's Stadium

The city is exploring adding parking regulations near Levi's Stadium that would allow private lots in Sunnyvale to operate as off-site parking to address what city staff and council view as a possible shortage at the stadium.

The Sunnyvale Planning Commission approved an off-site parking ordinance at its March 24 meeting, which will go before the city council on April 29 for final approval.

At the request of the city council, city staff came up with a permitting system that would designate certain lots as official off-site stadium parking to help the city keep track of which parking lots would be in use during stadium events and help the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety monitor activity within the business parks.

Parking lot owners would be able to charge for parking and would determine the fee.

According to city staff, the environmental impact report for the San Francisco 49ers' new home identified 40,000 parking spaces within a 20-minute walk of the stadium; however, a draft transportation management and operations plan done by the city of Santa Clara reported far fewer spaces than that.

"It is anticipated that even if the Stadium Authority finalizes all of their off-site parking contracts, there may still be a shortage of parking in close proximity to the stadium, which could attract property owners in Sunnyvale to provide parking for stadium patrons," city staff reported.

Advertisement

Private parking lot owners would get an annual permit for properties located in the MP (Moffett Park Specific Plan) and M-S (industrial and service) zoning districts. Off-site stadium parking would be prohibited in all other zoning districts.

It has yet to be determined which lots would have off-site parking, as the city is working with lot owners on the details.

Following a similar ordinance recently passed in Santa Clara, city staff drafted its own ordinance that would add off-site parking standards and regulations in private parking lots closest to the stadium in the neighborhood bordered by Highway 237, Lawrence Expressway, Tasman Drive and Calabazas Creek, as well as in the Moffett Business Park.

For the first year, tailgating and vendors would be prohibited in the lots, but city staff reported that the ban would be reviewed at a later date for reconsideration.

"Tailgating is definitely something we're going to look at in the future, and we've already told the business owners that as well," senior planner Amber El-Hajj said during the meeting. "It's just something that we felt like in the first year, when we don't know what's going to happen, it would be safer to not allow it."

As a separate effort, the public works and public safety departments are working with residents, property owners and tenants about limiting on-street parking during stadium events. A separate report will be presented to the city council, also on April 29.